


Free To Roam

by Ink_Glitch



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, very mild abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2019-07-14 15:17:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16043096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Glitch/pseuds/Ink_Glitch
Summary: Virgil, a young arabian centaur colt, is captured by a circus, where he quickly learns that life is terrifying and that humans are even more so. Five years later, a human named Thomas, who has a trio of wild centaurs living on his land, finds Virgil. After rescuing him, the slow process of rehabilitation begins.Centaur! SidesHuman! ThomasInspired by this speedpaint/livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBEFMWkhKZ8





	1. Circus and Lies

**Author's Note:**

> Not Beta'd, so please point out any mistakes :)

Virgil reared and whinnied wildly, bucking and rearing in an attempt to escape the harness on his horse body and the collar around his neck. As he tried to back up and get away, the rope tying him to the fence tightened and pulled hard on the collar. He choked and wheezing for breath, the strain on his windpipe and the exhaustion of fighting for the past hour finally causing him to slow his struggle. He was almost foaming at the mouth, his black flanks sheened with sweat, and his legs trembled in exhaustion and fear.  
He had no idea where he was or how he had ended up here. The last thing he remembered, he was in the forest where his herd lived, minding his own business, and then blackness. He had awoken here, night falling, surrounded by tall tents and loud noises, tied to the fence of a paddock with a collar around his neck and a strange harness of fabric and tassels on his flanks. He had been fighting ever since, trying to free himself, to get away from the noise and the lights.

  
Everything was so loud and bright and unfamiliar and terrifying. He wanted to run away, to get out of here. He reared again despite his tiredness and his hooves worked to pull him away once again. He knew his panic would soon immobilize him, and that made him strain even harder, his hooves slipping and forcing him to fall to his knees, chest heaving.

  
He heard a laugh behind him, nearly startling him over the edge of the cliff of panic he was balancing on. He twisted his head around, too scared to care about the pressure of his collar as he did so, desperate to see who had made the sound. His eyes were wide with terror, causing the human to laugh again. He was wearing a top hat and a half-cape, and carried a long whip, coiled like a snake ready to strike.

  
“It looks like the little Arabian foal has some fire in him.” He reached out a hand, patting Virgil’s flank. Virgil flinched away, trying to bring himself back up to his feet, but he was too tired, too weak. Had it not been for the adrenaline that accompanied his panic, he was sure his slender legs would have given out far sooner.

  
“No need to panic now.” His voice was sickly sweet. “The whip’s only for show. For the most part at least. As long as you behave like a good centaur, we shouldn’t have any problems.”

  
Virgil snorted, unable to form any proper words.

  
“I expect you’re hungry. Well, food around here goes to those who work the hardest. This is all you get for now.” He tossed an apple a few feet to the left of where Virgil trembled, then whipped around, cape flaring and spooking Virgil more. “I have business to attend to now. I’ll see you again in the morning.”

  
Virgil attempted weakly to reach the apple once the man had left, but it was just out of reach. He weakly stood, staggering his way to the fence where the rope wasn’t choking him with his collar, before his legs gave out once again, and he fell to the ground, arms wrapping around himself in a feeble attempt to find some security. The waves of exaughstion that had been threatening to overtake him finally came crashing down, and he sunk into a uneasy darkness, filled with panicked dreams.

  
A loud crack startled him awake, and he leaped to his feet, rearing and trying to run, until the yank on his neck stopped him short, cutting off his air and pulling him back onto his hind legs, where he nearly lost his balance. The same laugh as before came from where he had just been asleep. The same man as before stood there, the end of the whip dragging on the ground. That was clearly what caused him to awaken.

  
“Still wild I see. Let’s see if we can fix that.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The whip cracked next to Virgil’s face as the crowd in the tent glared down at him. The ringmaster was getting impatient, and so was the trainer. He was slowly tapping his foot in a way Virgil had come to know and fear, a way that meant no food for the day and no stable for the night. He knew he had to move, to prance neatly around in a circle with the silk of his costume streaming out behind him, bare chest on display, as though he were nothing more that a beast. But he couldn’t make his legs move. He was frozen, as so often happened in the ring.

  
His heart beat in his chest, his fight or flight reflex, already unusually high for even an Arabian and made worse by the constant fear from the circus, was milimeters from kicking in. His breathing was growing ragged, and he could tell the trainer heard it.

  
“Not to worry folks, Centaurs are notoriously stubborn and slow, we simply need to give him some motivation!” The words sounded like they were coming at him through water. The crack of the whip came unexpectedly, and pushed Virgil over the brink. He bucked in surprise and reared wildly, thrashing against the rope tethering him to the center of the ring. The crowd began to boo loudly. And the Virgil saw the lying trainer’s face, and the panic became so great that he froze, legs quivering. In the five years he had been in the circus, he had come the know the look on the man’s face quite well.

  
“I am terribly sorry everyone, it seems our poor Angel,” Virgil had never given them his name, nor even spoke, so they had chosen that name for him, “Is feeling a little overwhelmed tonight. This happens occasionally, and is nothing to worry about! He will be taken back to the stables to rest and recuperate in quiet.”

  
Lies, every word that came out of that man’s mouth was a lie. There would be no stable tonight, only the small portable paddock set up on the hard pavement. There would be no food, food was only for those who were good. Virgil didn’t want to go, but his body started to move on its own, his fear of the punishment he would receive if he tried to resist overriding his fear of going with the trainer.

  
The instant the glow of the tent was behind them, the man flipped around, and once again the whip cracked, this time mere centimeters from his ear.

  
“What was that?!” he hissed, sounding as snake-like as the whip always looked, yet somehow more terrifying than any poisonous snake could ever be. “You know better than to freeze up like that. The paddock is yours tonight. I told Valarian that a twelve-year-old colt was too old to start training, but he didn’t listen, and look at you! Freezing every third show. And you know who gets the blame? Me. So you’d better believe we are going to be working very hard over the next few days. Otherwise you will WISH you could sleep in the paddock.”

  
He yanked on the leash, pulling Virgil over to the paddock, and tied the rope so tightly to the hitching post that Virgil had to hunch over or else be strangled. He knew the same would happen if he tried to go down on his knees, he had been in this position too often before. He could barely straighten his human back anymore, causing him to appear hunched up most of the time.

  
Five minutes later and his back muscles already were starting to ache, cramping from the discomfort and the chill of the air, and the point where his torso transitioned from human to horse felt tight, making breathing more difficult that it already was. His hands had also been tied to the rope to prevent him from untying the knots or picking the locks, meaning he was unable even to stretch. He knew little or no sleep was coming tonight, so he stood there, resigned, simply waiting for dawn to come.


	2. Sold

The next three days for Virgil were some of the worst he had ever experienced at the circus. It seemed the Ringmaster was reaching the end of his patience, which translated to the Trainer being even angrier and harsher than ever. He worked Virgil until he could hardly breathe, cracking the whip by his face any time he tried to take a break. Sometimes it made contact with his arms or human body if the Trainer was especially frustrated.

At the end of each day he was trembling from thirst, hunger, and exhaustion, drenched in sweat, and covered in bloody scratches from the sharp leather. At night, he was tied to the post, with only a little water and food, enough to give him energy, but never enough to be satisfied. Though he wasn’t forced to hunch, he was still unable to move in any direction. The concrete chipped his unshod hooves until it was painful.

No matter how hard he tried, it seemed it wasn’t enough. He could hear the Trainer and the Ringmaster talking. He heard that dreaded words over and over again.  
“If you don’t get him in line, he will have to be sold.”

The thought of being sold terrified Virgil more than any punishment the Trainer could ever give him. The idea of being shoved into the small trailer used to move him, being sent away with people who he knew nothing about, who could buy him with any reason in mind. At least with the Trainer and the circus, Virgil knew in some respects what to expect. But he could be sold to someone who wanted to turn him into a servant, or wanted to put him on display in a zoo, or who wanted to make him carry people on his back and pull carriages, or even someone who wanted to kill him and turn him into a taxidermy trophy!

He did everything he could to keep the thought from ever being carried out, but it seemed his attempts were in vain. It was with a cold, malefic glee that the Trainer approached him on the morning of the fourth day, startling him awake with the whip as per usual. He seemed to savor the words as he told Virgil what he had been dreading.  
“Well well little Angel, it seems my luck has finally taken a turn for the better. You see, the Ringmaster had a very interesting guest last night. A guest with a lot of money and an appreciation of rare beasts. You, my friend,” he sneered as he said the word, “are about to have a new master. Hopefully he has more success in training you than I have.”  
Virgil’s legs began to tremble and freeze up, as they so often did in moments of utter terror. He had been bought. Bought by someone with “an appreciation of rare beasts.” Virgil knew very well what that meant. The best case scenario? He would be tied up on display, a pretty decoration for a mansion garden. Worst case scenario? It meant certain death. It   
meant he would not see any more sunrises.

“He’ll be arriving to pick you up soon. Best pack your saddlebags.” There was the signature laugh, sharp and jagged. “Best move you into a stable stall. We don’t want Thomas to think that we’ve been keeping you in anything but the best that our humble circus has to offer.” He untied the leash from the post, tugging harshly to force Virgil to follow him.  
Virgil’s hooves moved, but his mind was far from the circus, analyzing and over-analyzing every possible terrible way his situation could play out. By the the time they reached the stable and a stall door had been closed behind him, he had completely left reality. So the slow, rumbly voice that spoke from above his head startled him into bashing his head on a crossbeam. 

“Hey gurrrl. Long time no see.” A dark-colored barn owl peered down at him from a few feet above, eyes slightly closed, giving him a sleepy appearance. “Saw you in the paddock while out hunting. That’s rough. Though you seem to end up in there a lot.”

Virgil let out a huff of relief. It was Remy, the owl who started following the circus around shortly after Virgil had been captured, keeping the other animals company in the stables of the various fairgrounds they visited. The staff had tried to catch him a few times, but only ended up with talon marks on their faces and arms. He didn’t seem to mind that Virgil didn’t talk, unlike the others who thought he was simply stuck up. (Perks of being a centaur: he could understand humans and animals alike.)

“Heard you’re being sold. That’s rough pal. I’m thinking of going with ya. This circus has gotten quite boring.” He blinked slowly. Virgil stomped nervously, reminding Remy of his situation. 

“Calm down gurl, it can’t be that bad. Tell ya what. If someone tries to hurt you, I’ll give them a nice clawing. Oh look, looks like someone’s here.”  
A man Virgil had never seen before with purple bangs and a patched black and purple hoodie was walking with the Trainer toward Virgil’s stall. It seemed the man who was going to become his new master, Thomas, had arrived. He didn’t look mean, if anything he looked like kind of a dork, and his shirt had a mix of a dad-joke and a physics pun. ‘You matter. Unless you multiply by C^2. Then you energy.’ Virgil may not have learned much in the circus, but he had heard people talking, and that particular pun had come up before. Remy, in fact, was the one who had explained it, feeling the need to live up to his kinds stereotype of being smart and wise. Despite this, Virgil did not trust him. looks could be deceiving. 

The Trainer was talking animatedly to Thomas, no doubt feeding him lie after lie, as was his habit. As they approached, Thomas looked up, eyes searching for Virgil. Virgil balked as Thomas looked at him, stomping restlessly, tail flicking, and eyes widened slightly. Thomas’s eyes also widened, a look of what could be anger flicking across his features, causing Virgil to press himself farther back into the stall until he hit the back. Thomas must have decided that he didn’t want Virgil after all. That was almost worse than being sold, it would make the Ringmaster and the Trainer even angrier.

But then Thomas turned to the Trainer, and in a tone of finality said, “I want to take him with me right now. I have a trailer with me, and I can pay you up front.”  
The Trainer gave an snakish grin. “Wonderful Mr. Sanders. Do you wish for some assistance getting him into the trailer? He can be quite a handful at times.”

Thomas shook his head firmly. “I’m quite sure I can handle it on my own. Go tell your boss of the arrangements.”

Once the Trainer had left, Thomas came up to the stall. Grabbing the lead off of the wall where it was hung, he slowly opened the door, and Virgil pressed himself into the smallest   
space he could. Virgil let out a sound between a whinny and a whimper of fear, and Remy let out a warning hoot.

“Hey now, calm down. I just want to attach this so I can take you to the trailer.”

Virgil wanted to pull back, but there was nowhere else for him to go. The lead was attached, and Thomas stepped back. Remy let out a screech, feathers fluffed up.

“Hey, calm down buddy. I won’t hurt your friend. You can come and make sure if you want.” He gently tugged the lead, urging Virgil to follow him. Resigned to his fate, knowing there was nothing he could do to fight it, Virgil slowly followed.

Remy swooped down and perched on the harness on his back, talons digging in to the leather straps. Thomas led him to a ramp that led into a trailer car.At the ramp, Virgil froze. He hated the trailer cars, small and cramped and always shaking and swaying as they moved. To make things worse, the Trainer and Ringmaster had rejoined them. The Trainer’s whip was coiled in his hand, but Virgil knew that didn’t mean it couldn’t be cracking next to his ear in less than a second. A slightly harder tug on the lead made him pull back hard, front feet leaving the ground a bit. Then the sting of the whip on his back made him bolt forward, nearly trampling Thomas and unseating Remy as he entered the trailer.

“Hey! What was that?” Thomas hopped out of the way, dropping the lead and stormed over to the trainer.

“He just needed a little encouragement. You’d never get him in there otherwise!” Thomas looked furious, but he sighed, as if deciding it wasn’t worth a fight. “Here’s the money.” He tossed an envelope at the two, then shut the door to the trailer and made his way to his car. The trailer jolted forward and then the Circus was moving away.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was about an hour later that the trailer stopped. They had pulled into a gas station. Thomas came to the back of the trailer and opened a small window in the door. Virgil was huddled, human arms wrapped around his torso, shivering a little.

“Oh, you must be cold back here with the wind! It’s a pretty chilly day for September. Here, try this!” He took off his jacket and gently tossed it through the window. Virgil looked hesitant, then quickly grabbed the jacket off the ground, wrapping it around himself. Thomas smiled, then closed the window. The trailer pulled out again, and by the time it stopped again, Virgil was asleep.


	3. A New Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick hop to Roman's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry about the delay on this chapter, I had a ton of school work that had to be done.

It was quite late when the trailer finally pulled into the long driveway of Thomas’s manor, but Roman was still awake, waiting at the front gates with Patton and Logan. Patton was eager to meet who hopefully the newest member of their small herd, as was Roman, and Logan had agreed to wait with the two of them as well, though Roman suspected that his brother was just as curious as they were. 

Patton was almost prancing with anticipation when Thomas finally pulled through the gates, and the three of them cantered alongside the truck until it pulled to a halt in the large field behind the manor house. Thomas hopped out of the car, opening the back door of the trailer. Roman peered in, but in the darkness it was hard to make out any shapes.

“His name is Angel, according to the circus, but he apparently never spoke to them, so he may have a different name. He’s very skittish, so I’m going to leave him here with the door open. He can leave whenever he feels ready. Wait for him to wake up before you try to greet him.”

“Ok.” Roman yawned. It was quite late, and it seemed that Angel wouldn’t awake any time soon. “Why don’t we go rest, we can see him in the morning.”  
Logan and Patton nodded in agreement. 

“Good night kiddo!” Patton bent down and gave Thomas one of his bone-crushing hugs.

“Night guys, and I’m not your kiddo.” Thomas gave a wave to the other two, before retreating inside. The three centaurs turned the other way, and trotted across the field to the forests that bordered the yard before each went their separate ways to their favorite places to sleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, the three centaurs convened by the edge of the woods. The new centaur had not left the trailer overnight, and with what Tomas had said the night before, they decided it would be best to wait for him to come out on his own. 

Patton was even more excited the night before, his honey-colored quarter-horse body prancing in place. Logan was trying in vain to calm him down, while Roman kept a close eye on the trailer, watching for any movement. After about an hour, he finally saw some. A small hooded head cautiously peered from the trailer.   
It was too far for Roman to make out the details, but he could tell from their movements that Angel was scared. 

“Hey guys, he’s awake!” Roman started galloping across the field, Logan quickly catching up with is powerful Friesian legs, while Patton, despite his short legs quickly outpaced them both. As the three of them skidded to a halt, Angel quickly retreated back into the trailer. Roman now saw that he had a dark-feathered barn owl perched on leather straps that ran across his back, holding fancy silks and tassels in place. 

“Greetings! You must be Angel, the one Thomas told us about! I am Roman, and this is my lovely brother Logan and my lovely friend Patton!” Roman threw his arms wide in a grand welcoming gesture.

Angel, who he now saw was a sleek black arabian, flinched back into the hoodie he was wearing violently, raising his arms to cover his face. The owl screeched and flew at Roman, before veering up to land above the door and puffing up his feathers. 

“Leave him alone!”

“The owl is right Roman, you seemed to have frightened our new friend. Perhaps you should calm down a bit.” Logan put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. 

“Well maybe I should try. Hey kiddo, I’m Patton. Thomas said they called you Angel. Is that your name?”

The new centaur didn’t respond, only pushing himself farther back, eyes wide. 

“Let’s back off a bit. He is probably unsure, having woken up in a new place. Patton, how about you go get Thomas? He may be able to help more.”

“You’re probably right Lo. I’ll go see if he’s up.”

Patton cantered over to the large glass doors that led inside, rapping loudly with his fist and striking the concrete patio with his hoof. There was a brief moment of waiting, then a tired-looking Thomas appeared, holding a mug. 

They talked for a minute, then Thomas turned, presumably going to get his shoes, and Patton came running back. 

“Thomas says he’ll be out in a minute, and to just back off. He said Angel’s probably scared of new people in a new place because the old place wasn’t a good one.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The appearance of three new centaurs had been a shock to Virgil when he first woke up. They had come cantering across to the trailer as soon as they saw his head peak out of the doors, and the Lippizaner had been loud and moved so sharply that Virgil flinched back, terrified.

After a warning from Remy, the Fresisan, “Lo,” according to a quarter-horse name Patton, pulled the Lipizzaner, Roman, back, and sent Patton off to somewhere to get Thomas. A minute later, he was back, and thankfully the three backed off. A short time later, Thomas appeared. He said something very quite to the three, then turned to face Virgil, hands up.

“Hey Angel, you don’t need to be afraid.” Virgil had heard those words so many times before, and they were always lies, but Thomas sounded sincere, and his eyes didn’t hold the gleam of the Trainer. Still, Virgil was not inclined to believe him.

He stamped his food threateningly, pulling the hoodie he still wore closer around him. Thomas halted calmly.

“You have every right to be afraid, but you should at least come out of the trailer. It’s going to get hot later today, and if you stay in there, the sun will turn it into an oven, despite the venting. Logan, Patton, and Roman won’t bother if you don’t want them to, right guys?” The three nodded in agreement. 

Virgil shook his head hard. He wasn’t going to leave the safety of the trailer until he was absolutely sure he was safe. The trailer was enclosed, and as much as he hated enclosed places, they were better than wide open ones, where something could come up from any side. There was food and water in the trailer, at least enough for the day, so he planned to stay right where he was. 

“Alright, nobody will force you to eave. But you can if you want to. Let’s leave him be guys.”

Logan and Roman looked slightly disappointed, and Patton looked positively heartbroken, but they thankfully left Virgil alone. Remy flapped back into the trailer, this time taking up a spot in the corner. He gave Virgil a ‘really’ look, but didn’t say anything, instead opting to go to sleep.


	4. Fear and Disney

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is forced from safety by the heat, and runs into Roman

Thomas’s prediction did indeed come true. By noon any morning chill had passed, and the sun beating down on the metal of the trailer had caused it to heat up to dangerous temperatures. Despite his fears, Virgil decided that he would have to leave. If he passed out, who knew what would happen.

Pulling the hood of the jacket up, he slowly took a few steps, until his front hooves were on the grass. He couldn’t remember the last time his hooves had touched actual grass, only hard concrete, dry straw, or packed dirt. Remy was still fast asleep, his place in front of a vent keeping him cool.

Looking around, he couldn’t see anything that could be immediately dangerous. There was only grass, with a manor house to the left and thick woods bordering the field about two hundred yards off on all the other sides. It seemed Thomas’s manor was built in a natural meadow clearing.

Various birds sang in the trees, a sound he hadn’t heard since he was still a colt in the forest where he was born. He took a few more steps, the soft breeze welcoming after the oppressing heat of the trailer. The other centaurs were nowhere to be seen, and that put him slightly more at ease. It had been so long since he had last seen another one of his kind that he wasn't sure how to react. He hardly knew anything about how to be a centaur, only how to act like the dumb beast that the Circus wanted him to be. 

Still unnerved by the openness of the field, despite the lack of any clear dangers, Virgil made his way toward the manor house. There was an area in a corner between two ivy-covered walls that looked shady and was overhung slightly, and was perfect for cover and yet open enough he could still flee. He had brought some of the food, apples mostly, that was in the trailer, and he ate warily.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours after he first saw the new centaur, Roman came up against his arch nemesis. Boredom. He was an active centaur, and always needed to be doing something. He had run out of pages in his sketchbook about two hours prior, and both his brother and Patton were busy, leaving him to amuse himself. There was only so long one could spend adding on to the palace he was building from sticks and whatever else he found in the woods before he needed something else to do, or at least someone to join him. 

He decided it was worth a trip up to the manor to see if Thomas was free to play a game or watch movies with him, or if he at least had another sketchbook. He made his way out of the woods near the front of the house and cantered around to the back, the part of the house where Thomas was most often found. As he rounded the corner, however, he was met with the startled and then fearful face of Angel. Angel backed up hurriedly, bringing his arms up in a defensive position. Roman backed up as well, more to calm down the frightened arabian than anything.

“Woah, I’m not here to hurt you! I am a kind prince, not some knave out to harm others! I was just looking for Thomas. Have you seen him anywhere? I’ve tired of working on my palace in the woods, and was hoping he may have time to partake in games or movies with me.”

Angel lowered his arms slightly, still looking wary, but shook his head.

“Well then, I shall simply have to call for him!” Roman trotted a few feet over to where there were two large glass doors, rapping his hoof on the ground and his fist on the door. When there was no response after a minute, he tried again, then again, and again, until, 

“I think he might not be available, prince.” 

It was so quiet Roman wasn’t sure he had heard it, but when he looked he saw Angel with his hands clamped over his mouth, looking terrified. His voice had been so raspy and quiet, sounding like he was quite out of practice, that Roman doubted he had spoken in a long time. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, so he resorted to one of the things he was best at: Disney references.

“Why, it seems you do have a voice! From what Thomas had told us and from what he was told by the circus, I assumed that the sea witch Ursula had stolen your voice!” This seemed to confuse Angel more than anything, though his lack of anger seemed to soothe some of the fear. 

“Come now Angel, are you telling me you haven’t seen the Little Mermaid?”

Angel shook his head again, hands still firmly over his mouth. 

“Well that simply won’t do! Tell me you have at least seen Sleeping Beauty? Or Snow White? Robin Hood perhaps?” 

It was still a no.

“Have you seen any movies? Do you know what a movie is?” 

Another shake of his head.

“No movies?!” Roman was horrified.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil wasn’t sure what to think of the strange Lipizzaner centaur stood before him. He was loud, moving wildly most of the time, and seemed unpredictable. But he also didn’t seem to mind that Virgil had talked or that he was now refusing to do so again. His anxiety was telling him to run, to get away, but the rational part of his brain was telling him that Roman seemed like a good person. 

Right now, he seemed shocked and horrified that Virgil hadn’t seen something called a ‘Disney movie’, or any ‘movie’ at all. Virgil had no idea what this thing was, but Roman seemed to be very passionate about them, now waxing poetically about how it was a tragedy that Virgil didn’t know what Disney was and that he must fix that crime.

All of a sudden, Roman was grabbing his hand and trying to drag him off toward the woods, spouting something about a ‘dee vee dee player and a tee vee’ in his palace in the woods. This startled him so much that he reared up, pulling his hand from Roman’s and accidentally whacking the Lipizzaner in the flank with his hooves.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I forgot that you must still be frightened!” Roman took a step back and held his hands up in apology. “Would you like to come to the woods with me? You don’t have to of course, I didn’t mean to start dragging you. I just get… ‘over excited,’ as Logan calls it, when it comes to Disney.”

Virgil nodded. He didn’t really want to go with Roman, that was a recipe for danger as far as he was concerned. But he was more afraid that not going would make Roman mad, more mad than he probably already was from getting kicked. And mad meant pain. Going along seemed like the best choice right now, until he had a better impression of what roman was really like.


	5. Ariel and Emile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the really kind messages. I'm (mostly) out of my slump now, and will try to go back to posting a chapter a week! I've only got a few more chapters planned till Virgil gets the happy ending he deserves!

Roman lead him around the house, and across the field toward the trees. He was talking animatedly the whole time, but Virgil wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying, trapped instead in his own mind. There was a gap in the trees where a path had been made, and they entered the forest there.

The forest was vibrantly green, with some berries already turning ruby, and various songbirds called back and forth, discussing the weather and the soon-to-come migration. The trail wound through the woods, and at one point crossed a shallow stream that meandered through the undergrowth.

It turned out that Roman’s palace was in fact quite grand. As the path approached it, Virgil saw it was a huge construct, encompassing multiple trees, and built mostly from logs and branches. It seemed to be held together mostly with some kind of clay-like substance and some thick, rope-like vines. 

Roman escorted him through an arching entrance, and when Virgil looked up, the ceiling towered above him by a good few feet, impressive considering he was close to eight feet tall. The floor was stone, clearly made by someone who had spent a great deal of time burying each flat rock so that they cobbled together and formed an almost perfectly even surface. It was well furnished, and it felt even larger on the inside. There were a few tables, human chairs, soft cushiony things Virgil couldn’t identify, cabinets and shelves, and even a working wood fireplace/hearth. 

It was all strange and new to Virgil, and he stared with unabashed curiosity. 

“Great isn’t it? It took years! Thomas and the others helped sometimes, but I did most of the work myself. A Prince must have a palace, after all!”

Virgil was so in awe that the other’s voice didn’t even startle him.

“I shall go ahead and set up a movie, you can sit wherever you please!” Roman went to one of the cabinets and began to rummage through it, pulling out a plastic case and removing from it a disc that was shiny on one side. 

Virgil made his was to one of the flat cushions and sank onto it, forelegs folded against his chest. It was soft and smooths, and far more comfortable than anything Virgil could ever remember experiencing. Roman joined him on a cushion next to his, with a strange object covered in buttons. He aimed it at a black box, a “tee-vee” Virgil guessed based on his previous ramblings, and suddenly noise started blaring from nowhere and the box lit up with all kinds of colors, and the picture it held seemed to move. 

Virgil tensed, unsure, but Roman still looked relaxed, so he didn’t move. The last thing he wanted to do was start panicking again and accidentally damage the structure had clearly taken a lot of effort to build.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Virgil didn’t really understand most of what was going on on in the box. Most of his mental energy was going toward the fact that he was in a relatively enclosed space, even if it was pretty big. There were bright colors, weird half-human half-fish creatures, some actual humans, a talking fish, a red thing with claws, and a lot of singing. He had to admit that the singing was good, and he really liked the design of the sea witch, as the movie referred to her. The black and purple worked well together, like the colors on his hoodie, and it was a welcome break from the incredibly bright colors of the rest.

As words started to scroll up the box, Roman turned to him with an excited look.

“So did you like it?!”

“Umm…. yea.” Virgil didn’t want to say that he hadn’t understood, as that might upset Roman, and though it didn’t seem like Roman would hurt him, he wasn’t planning to push his limits. He had learned long ago not to do that. 

“The Little Mermaid is definitely one of the best Disney movies, it’s a classic! We can watch another one tomorrow if you want! I think you’ll enjoy Beauty and the Beast.”  
Virgil nodded along silently, not sure what else to say. He wanted to return to the trailer to find Remy, the one creature he was familiar with, but Roman had given him no cue to leave.

At that moment, there was a snuffling sound from the doorway of the palace, as Roman had called it, and striped black, grey, and white face peeked through, little black eyes surveying the scene. 

“Emile! How nice of you to join us!” Roman quicky leaped to his hooves, making Virgil leap up as well, swiftly retreating to one of the walls. The strange, stocky creature ambled slowly into the room, squinting at the two centaurs. 

“Who’s that with you, Roman? Is that the new kid that you talked about yesterday?” Emile’s voice was loud, but felt soft on Virgil’s ears. “Your brother sent me to come find him, said Thomas was looking for him.”

“Yep, this is Angel. Angel, Emile. He’s our resident Therapy Badger. He came here with Patton, apparently. It was a few years before Lo and I showed up.”

Virgil watched this Emile warily, tail flicking back and forth. He had never seen a badger before, and while the creature didn’t seem dangerous, looks could be deceiving.

“Hello there Angel! As you probably heard, Thomas is looking for you.” The badger snuffled in Virgil’s direction. “Just follow me, I’ll take you back to the house.”

“Ok.” Virgil didn’t see much of a choice. Emile did the closest thing to smiling that Virgil assumed a badger could do, then turned and began slowly ambling back out the door.  
“I’m not quite as fast as you centaurs, so let’s get going.” 

With a quick glance at Roman, Virgil followed him out of the palace with a nervous gait.


	6. Comfort

Emile was a strange creature. Virgil had never met a therapy badger before, but he was…. nice. Virgil didn’t feel quite so on edge with him. The best way to describe him was soft. He moved softly, his voice was soft on Virgil’s frayed nerves, and he seemed to be all soft edges. 

He ambled slowly along the path, leading Virgil back to the main field, talking about various things that Virgil had never heard of, but he spoke of the so passionately, especially one about gems(?), that Virgil didn’t mind listening. It was helpful that Emile told him outright that Virgil didn’t have to talk.

When they reached the house where Thomas was standing on the stone patio, Virgil was far more at ease that he had been at Roman’s palace. Remy, it seemed, had awakened, and he glided down from a perch on the roof to land on Virgil’s shoulder.

“Thank you Emile.” Thomas bent down and scratched the therapy badger’s fur behind his ears, then stood to face Virgil.

“So Angel, I see you like the jacket.”

Virgil panicked. He should have given it back the instant he no longer needed it. He was never supposed to keep things that covered him up too much. It was just that it was so soft and he didn’t feel so much like a decoration while wearing it and the strings were so nice to fiddle with and… He quickly moved to start taking the jacket off.

“No, no! You can keep it! I have waaaay more jackets than I can possibly need. I’m just glad you like it. I actually was wondering if you wanted to take those tassels off. They seem like they would be rather uncomfortable to have on all the time.”

Virgil paused in his motions. Looking back at his flanks, he realised he was still wearing the main harness from the circus. They always removed the longer silk when he wasn’t performing, but they never took the harness off. He was so used to it he didn’t even notice it anymore. The thought of not wearing it was uncomfortable in his mind, but if Thomas wanted it gone, he supposed he would have to remove it. 

His hesitance must have shown in his face, as Thomas nodded.

“You can keep it on if you want. You probably need something familiar. I just thought it may be painful. But if they don’t hurt, there’s no reason you have to take them off.”

Virgil relaxed. That was good. He liked how he looked, the harness was one of the few good things that had come from the circus. It had frightened him at first, as most things did, and he never liked the silk that streamed in the wind land felt like it was chasing him, but the tassels and shorter silk that draped from the straps were pretty and actually felt rather nice on his sides.

“Also, I put some things in the trailer to make it more comfortable. The others have places in the woods, but since you’re new and we didn’t know what you’d like, we don’t have somewhere for you yet. If you find a place you like, you can get my attention by knocking in this window and tapping your hoof, and we can figure out what you want to build.”

Virgil nodded, Thomas seemed to be telling the truth again. He had yet to see anything in Thomas that reminded him of the Ringmaster.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil spent the afternoon exploring the borders of the woods with Remy, thinking about what Thomas had told him and about the sudden change in direction his life had taken. He wasn’t quite ready to trust any of them, but he saw no reason at the moment to distrust them. 

He found two more paths off into the woods, which he assumed led to Lo and Patton, and Remy commented on how perfect the woods would be to hunt.  
“Full offence to that circus, there were never any good places to hunt near by. Mice, mice, mice, all the time. I look forward to a nice vole or shrew.”

Virgil found, at the far end of the field and out of sight from the house and the gate, a nice pond with a few big old willow trees and lots of reeds and rushes. It was quiet, and the woods surrounded most of it. 

He decided almost right away that he liked it there. The grass was comfortable, and he sank to his belly with his arms and chin propped up on a large rock. It was a nice place to think, and before he knew it, Virgil was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figure I should add a little bit about where the others came from, because it probably won't come up in the story.  
> -Remy: Remy followed the circus because they had a falconer and Remy was friends with the falconer's Snowy Owl, but when they left the circus (argument over pay), Remy had already decided he had adopted Virgil as his own.  
> -Patton and Emile: Patton and Emile both lived on a private historic recreation of an old homestead where tours and stuff were offered for free by the man who lived there. Patton pulled a hay wagon for kids (he loved doing that with all his heart), and Emile was technically wild, but he loved getting pets and food from the kids, so he hung around and was an unofficial pet/mascot. The man eventually got old enough that he decided to sell and move across the country to where his children and grandchildren lived. Thomas bought the place, and Emile and Patton just kept on living there, much to Thomas's delight. (Thomas still runs tours in the summer, and around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the manor where Thomas lives is separated by a thick band of trees. The man was rather wealthy, so he had the manor built to live in)  
> -Roman and Logan: Roman and Logan are brothers who escaped from traffickers and were found by Thomas when Roman tried to steal from his car while Thomas was at a rest stop. Thomas ended up inviting them to come to his property, which was not too far for a centaur to get to.
> 
> In this world, while Centaurs are know and have human-level intelligence, some sleazy people still treat them like animals (e.g. the circus and its patrons, the traffickers, people who want a rare animal/trophy, etc.)


	7. I Made Art

I made art!! I don't like posting art in my stories, the formatting is too weird, so it's on my tumblr, [RogueInkGlitch](https://rogueinkglitch.tumblr.com/). [HAVE SOME ART!](https://rogueinkglitch.tumblr.com/post/183798886690/centaur-virgil-from-my-fanfiction-free-to-roam-on?is_highlighted_post=1) 

This is actually art now, I'm not that cruel :3


	8. Night

Life on Thomas’s land was strange, to say the least. It wasn’t like anything Virgil had known before, but it wasn’t bad. Each of the other centaurs seemed to be trying to get to know him, and though he was still wary, they gave him no cause for more alarm than usual. 

He found that he liked to spend time with Patton best, the quarter-horse very much like his badger friend: soft. He always had a nice word for Virgil, and always seemed to know how he was feeling. It also helped that he almost oozed sunshine and happiness, and Virgil couldn’t help but have the beginnings of a smile on his face when he was around.

Lo, who Virgil learned was actually called Logan (“Only Patton may call me Lo, as he seems to wilt when told he cannot use a nickname, and his puppy-dog eyes are frankly heartbreaking”), was very smart, and very different from his brother Roman. Apparently the two were not actually related, but Logan’s mother had basically raised Roman, leading them to use the term brother. Logan knew everything about everything, it seemed, and was not afraid to correct anyone who got their facts wrong. 

Roman was almost exactly as he had first appeared. Loud, excitable, and painfully optimistic and outgoing. He regularly sought out Virgil in an attempt to get him to come watch more movies with him, and though he enjoyed the movies, extended time around Roman still made him nervous. He was just a little too similar to the show that the circus workers always put on in the ring. He also continually tried to get Virgil to talk, something the other two seemed to let go. 

It was after one of these movies about a week from his arrival that Virgil discovered the greatest thing about this new life. It had already been sunset when Roman had dragged him to his palace to watch Robin Hood (Virgil decided it was one of the better movies, along with a movie called The Black Cauldron, his current favorite), and so by the time the movie had finished, it was quite dark.

Up to that point, Virgil had been trying to fall asleep before the night fully set in. He wasn’t able to sleep with the almost complete lack of light, so unlike the Circus. But now, as he exited the forest, night had fallen. Remy swooped over his head, off to start hunting, and called out a greeting. As Virgil looked up to wave to him, he froze.  
The sky was a rich, velvety black, the moon new and casting no light, and dotted with millions of…

“Stars!” The word left his lips like a breath, so quiet even he barely heard it. There were so many stars, more than he had ever seen in his life. It had never gotten dark enough to see more than a very few with the Circus, and now there were more that Virgil could count in a lifetime.

A pale silvery band, mixed in with shades of purple and pink, wound through the sky like a river, with more stars packed tightly together, the rest of the sky looking as though it had been sprinkled with fairy lights like the ones that lit the fortune teller’s tent at the Circus.

Virgil hadn’t seen anything like it in a long, long time. Not since he was a small foal, still living with his mother and herd in the woods. He barely had any memories of that time, only fuzzy feelings and brief flashes of color, sound, or smell. He remembered loving the stars, watching them with his mother from forest clearings, but only barely. He had almost forgotten it, trapped in the circus where seeing even twenty or thirty stars was special.

Virgil stood there, gazing up at the vast expanse of sky. When his neck started to ache, and he finally returned his gaze to the earth, it was nearly as beautiful. The night dew had already formed, and it glittered very faintly in the starlight. On the almost black expanse of the field, it was as through the sky was mirroring itself in the grass. The cool night air smelled damp and sweet, and he could hear frogs from the pond and crickets in the woods.

Without even thinking, he began to move, slowly at first, face turned slightly up. Before he knew it he was gathering speed, until he was racing across the field, hooves skimming the grass. The air felt fresh on his face as he galloped, hair blown back and tail streaming out behind him. The stars held steady above him, and Virgil had never felt quite as wild as he did now. It was a feeling he had forgotten, and had lost all hope of discovering again. It was breathtaking, invigorating! He felt... free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are! I think there is only one chapter left. This is really what I have been leading up to, this scene where Virgil realizes he truly is free.


	9. More Art!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it's not the last chapter, but I procrastinate. Have some art I did of Roman instead!

The art is here on my Tumblr: <https://rogueinkglitch.tumblr.com/post/186013139990/roman-from-my-story-free-to-roam-on-ao3-he-enjoys>

 

He's a graceful boy who likes to put on performances/act out fairy taled for the visitors, especially the kids, when Thomas has the homestead open. He's well loved by local kids as well, who he often entertains.


	10. Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is finally free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final chapter!

After that night, everything felt clearer, brighter, less like a dream. He began to loosen up, lose the feeling of constant fear that everything was going to change in an instant. The realization of his freedom had not hit him before, and now it had hit him all at once, leaving him breathless. 

He spent the next few days reveling in the sensation, the weight of his fear removed and leaving him feel as light as one of Remy’s feathers. Patton was the first one to notice a change. The gentle brown quarter-horse found him racing along the edge of the forest, laughing at the butterflies that swirled up as he passed. He had his arms flung out, trying to catch the wind in his hands. 

“Hey kiddo, mind if I join in your run?” Patton was emerging from the trail that led to his little cottage, for lack of a better word, a few yards ahead of Virgil. Virgil, surprising even himself, grabbed Patton’s arm as he raced past, pulling him into a run.

Patton let out a laugh, quickly matching Virgil’s speed, and the two raced through the warm September sun, soon arcing away from the forest and out into the field. When Patton began to slow, Virgil put on one more burst of speed, swirling out in a wide circle around him before coming to rest beside the cheerful centaur.

Patton watched him for a minute, Virgil’s head held high, body almost glowing.

“Be careful with that smile kiddo.” 

Virgil looked over at him.

“It just may put the sun out of business.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running with Patton somehow became a pattern. Virgil would race along the edge of the woods, and Patton would join him for an arc through the fields. Soon another event joined the routine, as Logan discovered that he shared his love of astronomy with Virgil.

After that first night of freedom, Virgil had continued to stay out watching the stars late into the night, and eventually he was stumbled upon by Logan, who was carrying a telescope and had a saddlebag of books on astronomy slung across his back. 

“Good evening, or nigh, as it may be. I had noticed you out here several nights in a row, watching the sky, and wondered if you might wish to use my telescope. I often set it up in the field on clear nights. I find studying the stars to be relaxing.”

The friesian showed Virgil how to set up the telescope, and they took turns looking though it. Logan would find something interesting in the sky and turn over the telescope so Virgil could look while he explained what they were looking at in great detail, rarely having to consult the books. 

When they finally parted for the night, Logan left Virgil with an awkward handshake, a request that they do this again, and a comment on how wonderful it was, how much pure joy Virgil seemed to gain from simply watching the stars. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From there, Virgil found himself spending more time with the two other centaurs, and Roman quickly followed. Roman continued to pull him in to watch Disney movies, but it was through dancing that they found a connection. 

Roman loved to perform: for kids, for adults, for the others, even for the woodland creatures. Anyone who was willing to watch. He moved with the fluid grace of someone with years of practice, and Virgil admired it. And Roman, if he was being honest. 

The flow of the movements, rhythmic and soothing, was peaceful and calm. It was so unlike the “dancing” he had been forced to do at the circus, and he wanted be able to move the way Roman did, flowing like water and flitting like a flame.

Something of this desire must have showed in his face as he watched Roman practice one evening, as the Lipizzaner sought him out the next day and pulled him into a lesson. The feeling was almost as wonderful as running, and he fell almost naturally into a floating trot as Roman whirled around him, demonstrating various movements and urging him to follow along.

They would spend hours twirling across the green grass of the lawn, Roman talking enough for both of them and Virgil simply soaking in the joy with a silent glow that Roman remarked upon as being “the glowing love of a true performer.”

It was the first time in a long, long time since Virgil had had a friend beyond Remy, and for once in his life, Virgil found himself truly happy. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas was the final person to notice, perhaps because he had the least time to spend with the centaurs, as a human who had human things to do. But as September began to edge tentatively into October, Thomas at last remarked on how well he seemed to have adjusted.

It was late afternoon, and he was out on the back patio, cooking food on a grill. Virgil, Roman, and Patton were racing around the field, playing some strange game of tag as Logan watched from the sidelines, content to alternated between reading and conversing with Thomas. 

When they at last slowed down and stopped by the patio for water, Thomas approached them.

“You seem to be doing a lot better, Angel. I really do hope that you stay here. And even if you don’t, your place at the pond will always be open.”

And the Arabian centaur, eyes glowing, coat glittering in the sunlight, did something unexpected. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he opened his mouth voluntarily, purposefully, and allowed words to come out.

“Actually, my name is Virgil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This has been such a ride, and I'm so grateful to everyone who commented or left kudos, or even just read all the way to the end. It makes me so happy to know that I wrote something that people enjoyed. Please, I would love to see/hear from you all over on my Tumblr, @rogueinkglitch, just drop in and say hello! Thank you all again <3


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